'American Hustle', 'Gravity' and '12 Years a Slave' lead this year's Academy Award nominations

'American Hustle' and 'Gravity' lead this year's Academy Award nominations. Both films are up for 10 awards, while '12 Years a Slave' follows closely behind with nine nods.

David O. Russell's crime caper starring Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence and Alfonso Cuaron's breathtaking space thriller both have 10 nominations at the 86th annual film awards, while '12 Years a Slave' follows closely behind with nine nods.

'American Hustle' is up for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, as well as acting nominations for all four main cast members including Christian, Jennifer, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper.

'Gravity' and '12 Years a Slave' are also in contention for Best Picture alongside 'Captain Phillips', 'Dallas Buyers Club', 'Nebraska', 'Her', 'Philomena' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street'.

'12 Years a Slave' has yielded a Best Actor nomination for leading man Chiwetel Ejiofor, Best Supporting Actor for Michael Fassbender and Best Supporting Actress for newcomer Lupita Nyong'o.

Sandra Bullock has earned an Oscar nod for 'Gravity', as has the film's visionary director Alfonso Cuaron.

Golden Globe Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Cate Blanchett continue to rack up award nominations as they are up for Best Actor and Best Actress for 'Dallas Buyers Club' and 'Blue Jasmine', respectively.

Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep earns a record 18th Oscar nomination for 'August: Osage County' and her co-star Julia Roberts, who is also a past Best Actress winner, is up for Best Supporting Actress.

The nominations were announced in Los Angeles today (16.01.14) by 'Thor: The Dark World' actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.